ECD Martin Schurmann and the animation team at Vascolo in Buenos Aires transport viewers back to historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, in this promo for a special MLB game honoring the Negro Leagues and their greatest players.

Martin Schurmann: “Rickwood Field, the oldest ballpark in America, boasts over 100 years of rich history. Our animation pays homage to the baseball legends and this iconic venue where much of baseball’s storied past was written.
 

“It was crucial to capture the players’ likenesses accurately, as each sketch needed approval from their families.”

 
“We designed the characters based on nine legendary players. It was crucial to capture the player’s likenesses accurately, as each sketch needed approval from the their families. Each player is depicted wearing their team jersey, representing either the period they played in the Leagues or the most iconic moment of their career.

“For each legend’s introduction moments, we used a typographic design inspired by two classic styles from the league’s golden era. This design blends the typeface used in the players’ locker room with a more script-like font that directly references how team names were written on the players’ jerseys.”

Watch the BTS video:
 

 
 

 
Client: Fox Sports

Production: Vascolo
ECD: Martin Schurmann
CD/supervising animation director: Ernesto Reyna
EP: Florencia Cruz
Art director: Natalia Español
Animation director: Angela Costantino
Production supervisor: Ayelén Dacri
Animation coordinator: Karla Lopez
Art coordinator: Ayelén Dacri, Julieta Vergottini
Compositing coordinator: Julieta Vergottini
Storyboard: Samuel Dávila
Illustrator: Carla Retamal, Leila Rosano, Lucas Cafiero, Lucy Gandini, Malena Zevallos, Samuel Dávila
Victoria Marcantoni
Graphic designer: Mariana Gonzalez Cuetos, Victoria Marcantoni
Cell animator: Ana Artaza, Ema Lynch, Fernando Aguilar, Leila Rosano, Lucas Ozuna, Manuela Calderone, Matias Petroli, Pablo Rago, Yasmin Hanna
Cleanup: Alan Mohamed, Clara Chini, Cynthia Perez Daubert, Daniel Avalos, Facundo Monteros, Fernando Aguilera, Florencia Pappalardo, Florencia Ponticelli, Lucy Gandini, Nicolás Quintar Riboli, Sofía Fernandez Vallejos
Compositor: Facundo Corsini, Javier Pelayo, Rafael Contreras Fornaris, Vicente Ziegler